Wednesday, 22 January 2014

Today was rather interesting to say the least. I don't have pics of the charts of my trades today as I was rather busy playing catch up shortly after 10 this morning. I had some tech issues that virtually sidelined me today; well except for my quick trades in PVG, ZLCS and PRAN. As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I've decided to invest in my trading education. A part of my trading education involved creating watch lists for the next trading day. When I first started trading (many, many moons ago-and even up to the day before I decided to undertake the education, I always wondered how traders came up with these watch lists.. I tried to do it, but if you've never been shown how to properly do it, you'll never know. I would simply come in the office in the morning and look at the top list and look for something to trade.. You can make money that way, however, when you want to be consistent, you have to come to the market prepared everyday with a list of potential stocks to trade.

I did my first real watch list last night and indicated to myself what I thought each stock would do. My scan left me with 10 stocks. I really liked three of them based on their chart and the move I expected them to take: PVG, ZLCS and PRAN.

My first choice was PVG. My thoughts on the stock was that it had to break through 6.50 in order to continue its upward trend. I tested twice at the end of the yesterday's trading session. If it didn't break, then I was prepared to go short once the stock broke the upward momentum. PVG did exactly what I figured it would do (remember I had two options on the trade; one long and one short). It broke the upward momentum and faded down nicely. I shorted at 6.40 I got out on the first bounce at 6.29

PRAN was an interesting trade. I caught it a little late. I saw it gapped up. Not sure how to play it, I left it alone. My review of the chart led me to develop the following hypotheses; the stock broke to new highs yesterday on strong volume. I believed that a break of yesterday's high would lead to another strong day; also, if the stock tests yesterday's high on light volume, the stock may simply trade in a tight range all day. It did trade in a tight range. I got in but quickly got out at 8.63 (same as my entry price) after the stock tested yesterday's high and quickly pulled back.

ZLCS was another interesting trade as I like it simply because it gapped up. I incorporated techniques that I normally use in gap trading simply because the stock gapped up. My view from last night was rather simple-if ZLCS broke 2.10, then 2.75 looked like a real possibility today. Funny enough, I didn't look for the other side of the trade if the stock didn't move. I got in at 2.07 and held to 2.23. I scaled out my last few trade out at 2.17 after the stock quickly dropped. Movements in these lower priced stocks are tricky. Moreover, the sharp move the stock made after is sold off in the opening minutes of the trading session was an indication that if you were in long, then you have to vigilant as a snap back could be imminent.

Minutes after those trades, i developed some tech issues and I my internet connection was lost. I wasn't able to continue paper trading. Nonetheless, I finished the day with a profit and I was more relieved at the fact that for the most part, I stuck to my trading plan coming into the day. At this point, I am really happy at my progress with my trading education. I know that after thoroughly reviewing the course a few more times, my progress and understanding of the market dynamics will exponentially improve.

On another note, this post is a fist for me as I am wrote this while waiting at the gate for my flight to Florida!!!! (I'm done now.......my flight leaves at 6:30 pm eastern time this evening).

Tuesday, 21 January 2014

First off, I must apologize for my being away for so long! My sabbatical was a little longer than I expected; but as with most things, it is important to take the necessary time to make lasting changes. Nonetheless, I want to send my Christmas regards for the yuletide season and wish for everyone to have a wonderful, prosperous and GREEN trading 2014!!!

I spent the last six months reflecting on all the positives and negatives of my short time of live trading in 2013; somewhat analyzing aspects of my trading plan and also-simply not even trading. I took a couple of trips; a Caribbean cruise with my girlfriend in September, and a trip to Abaco, Bahamas (I'm saying that like I'm not from the Bahamas--I live on New Providence, commonly called Nassau) in November.

Repping the 242 all day!!!!

I started paper trading in late November to simply get back in the swing of things- I lost quite a bit of the funds I had in my existing demo account; but that was OK; as it was expected. On top of that, my expanded work portfolio helped me keep my mind off of my personal trading account. I spent my time dealing with my clients and their portfolios, so I was never too far from the market.

More important than that, I made up my mind that before I went back in the market, I would invest in my trading education. I must admit that I wasn't initially fond of the idea, however, after loosing almost all of my capital on my first two attempts in the market made the stark realization that I had to invest in my trading education easier to do... Think about it for a minute, when you have already spent money obtaining the brutal market tuition (the amount is relative in market education) i.e. losses in the market, investing in your trading education with a REPUTABLE person or company before taking the plunge back in the market makes-more economical sense. It, if the training is excellent (as well as if you work hard and study the information being passed on) will give you a greater chance of being successful in the market. I have certain vices (I don' want to reveal them here lol) but loosing money in the stock market is CERTAINLY NOT one of them!!

I battled back and forth on where to get this education... I searched the web for individuals that could assist in this endeavor. I narrowed down my search to two companies. I'm not going to disclose just yet which company/entity won out. Just recently, I purchased the program...... I invested in my trading education. I've done the course and I'm going to review and review and do it again (its a one time fee..lol I'm not THAT crazy!!). Before doing the course I have been working on setting up a trading plan that REALLY allows me to trade and understand the market. I can see the course paying off as I'm seeing the things that were mentioned in it on the charts and I have been able to put things learnt into play in my trading. I'm still not live yet, but I will be in a few weeks.

Here are three trades I took today. These were straight from the course:

I got in the red circle ( I don't like snipping tool, I prefer PicPick, so I will be downloading that again!!) and got out in the blue circle. I understood the play from start to finish!!

Here's another one:

I got in on the blue circle and sold in the red one.

One more:

This is another one. Just a different type of play. I nailed the rebound. I took all of those later in the morning because I got in the office a little late.

I feel confident after those 3 trades, but I know that my work is not done. Like I mentioned earlier, I going to review, review and re-do the course. I will keep posting on my progress. Hopefully, my post inspires any readers I may have to do the same and invest in your trading education. Trust me, you don't want to simply waste (and loose) money in the market; take the time and invest in yourself!!! if you choose a great company/person, the money spent will be regained in a short time!!

Until my next post, be good people and invest in yourself! Here's one more Christmas stock pic. I think this is hilarious: